Is Noémi Büchi a workaholic? Most probably, considering that Exuvie is already her third solo album in five years, not counting a handful of smaller releases and her two albums with fellow Swiss artist Feldermelder as Musique Infinie. She also seems to be an increasingly versatile perfectionist. While, with Musique Infinie, she created delicate dronescapes that were sometimes punctuated with entropic kick drums and sometimes not, her last album, Does It Still Matter, seemed to ask this very question about genre, bringing together Amon Tobin circa ISAM-style maximalism, bubbling ambient vignettes, brostep derivatives and piano reveries. It was a brilliant showcase of her abilities as a producer, but not exactly a coherent whole.
However, that is precisely what Exuvie is. Though Büchi dials back the sonic intensity – or, well, brutality – a little across these eleven pieces and takes things slightly slower, she stays true to her unique signature sound, which seems to be equally inspired by mid-2010s deconstructed club music, Florian Hecker and trance techno. She embeds glossy sounds, some of which – are those MIDI trumpets!? – were obviously chosen with a tongue in cheek, into mid-tempo beats that are occasionally topped with chopped-up vocals to create what could be called hyper trip-hop – overdriven and maximalist on the surface, but built on the solid foundation of an electronic resting pulse. This does not make Exuvie Büchi’s bumpiest record, but maybe her wildest ride yet.
Exuvie
